iPhones were not originally intended to run 3rd party native apps. Steve Jobs envisioned developers using the on-device safari app as an engine for web apps. iOS 2.0 (called iPhone OS back then) brought the app store which allowed native running applications. Now iOS 11.3+ supports progressive web apps, which is basically a hybrid between a native app and a web app (very containerized).

Originally published 10/09/2021 https://pittcsc.org/, republished 09/16/2022.